


A Demon's Loyalty

by ATouchOfCommonSense



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: ? Maybe?, Canon Compliant, Canon-typical master/slave dynamics, Ciel Phantomhive is Annoyed, Dark Ciel Phantomhive, Demon Ciel Phantomhive, Demon Sebastian Michaelis, Demons, Drama, Gen, I tried to make this fic:, Like... always, POV Ciel Phantomhive, Post-Canon, let me know how I did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28029768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATouchOfCommonSense/pseuds/ATouchOfCommonSense
Summary: Eternity is tiresome. Ciel might have known that far before his corruption, had he given it much thought, but a child only fueled by pain and revenge had no time for such petty trains of thought.To combat this, Ciel has begun to ponder his ineffable butler. Such wonderings have left him with a gaping question: Why hadn't Sebastian abandoned yet?
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis & Ciel Phantomhive
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	A Demon's Loyalty

Now that an unnatural stretch of time has worked its way into the chamber that once housed his fleeting mortality and his family name amounts to little more than a footnote in an obscure text, Ciel has grown tired. 

Long ago he had observed all he wished to see, and along the way came to know most things he did not. He was at first awed by the advancements of mortals, but quickly came to understand their new trinkets and found them no better than the models they worked so very hard to replace. Works were only as enlightened as their author or artist, meaning they did not have much to offer one who has lived through generations. Calendars were for those who required a unit of measure for their limited days, so that too became a useless tool of mortal life.

And so, Ciel has come to observe life and all that it holds with immense dispassion. No matter how grand in the moment, it is most often gone before it has any true worth at all. 

“Sebastian,” Ciel called as he stood up from his bed and observed the horizon where the sun had long since set.

“Yes, my lord,” Sebastian replied, walking through Ciel’s bedroom door as if he had been standing behind it waiting for his name to be uttered. Without prompting, he began unbuttoning his lord's layers and removing them in preparation of the night’s rest. 

Ciel does not always enjoy Sebastian’s presumptuous nature, but their nighttime routine has not changed in over a century so he supposed this could be one of the exceptions. 

“Sebastian,” Ciel inquired after a moment of silence. “If I were to ask you a truly absurd question, could you refuse to answer?”

“My, my,” he replied with a smirk, turning to retrieve a night shirt from across the room. “What a loaded question, my lord.”

Ciel scowled. Sebastian appeared to take great pleasure at displaying his evasion tactics and Ciel was not in the mood for these verbal dances.

“Perhaps," he gritted out, attempting to maintain an indifferent air and failing miserably. "In any case, I would like you to respond. If I ordered you to answer me, you would have no choice, would you not?”

Such was his usual air, Sebastian showed no reaction to the question as he slid the night shirt over Ciel’s head. “Of course, my lord. But I must warn you that may negate one of your previous orders.”

As he settled into the shirt and gestured for Sebastian to begin buttoning, Ciel looked up at his butler with eyes narrowed. He wondered if the demon knew which question he was going to ask. When speaking his mind, Sebastian proves himself more omnipotent with every encounter, which would be unsettling if it wasn’t so convenient. 

“How so?”

“You have told me never to lie to you. If you ask me something to which I do not know the answer, I would have no choice but to make my best guess and present it as truth.” 

Ciel dropped his gaze and sighed, visibly annoyed. That was not what he was he wanted to hear (nor what he had been expecting) and yet it seemed to be the only answer Sebastian was going to give that night.

“Couldn’t you just say you didn’t know?” Ciel asked as he climbed into his bed.

“If you consider that enough of an answer, then I suppose so, my lord.” Sebastian rounded the bed and began laying out the next morning’s clothe. He then turned out the light and vacated the room. 

Ciel had the ridiculous urge to call after his butler and demand an answer for what he had been leading up to asking just a few moments ago, but he resisted. He could recognize when he wasn’t going to get anything useful out of his butler.

Out of the many things Ciel now knows after his many years on this dreaded rock, there is one thing he has yet to grasp and it comes as no surprise that such a conundrum exists at the hands of his demon. 

There is a part of him that would like nothing more than to force the answer out of Sebastian, but whenever he seriously considers it a voice asks him if some things are meant to be kept secret. Does he really need to know? Does he even deserve to ask, after all Sebastian does for him?

Nevertheless, Ciel burns to get his answer. Sebastian belongs to him. He is loyal and has never given Ciel reason to question that. He is truthful, though not always straightforward. Sebastian has been bound to Ciel for decades upon decades, and still Ciel does not fully understand. Why is it so? Why does Sebastian stand by his side even when his prize will now and forever be out of his reach? 

The obvious answer is that he was ordered to, and so the contract dictates his dedication as a butler and protector until Ciel’s soul can be eaten—which, for obvious reasons, is now an entirely fruitless endeavor. As a child, Ciel believed his plan was foolproof. After years of contemplation, however, Ciel has never been so unsure of his butler’s motives. He can not fathom what truly keeps him bound. Surely it is more than the contract. Many contracts exist to be broken, after all, and demons must have gone back on such things before. Is it his pride? Does Sebastian have such dedication to his word that he would give up his freedom for the rest of time simply to abide by it? Ciel knows a thing or two about pride, but it still seems like a weak excuse for a binding through all of eternity.

On the other hand, Ciel once gave up his soul for pride. He traded a gamble of Heaven and Hell for the absolute of being devoured after the restoration of pride. Was this really so different?

After Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis disappeared and were presumed dead, Ciel set out to investigate the world. There would always be crime and awfulness and instability in his past, but never before had Ciel been given the opportunity to explore the positive aspects of life. With Sebastian by his side, Ciel saw beautiful sights and learned eye opening things. He witnessed acts of true generosity and love and came to know the most pleasing places on Earth. Sebastian stood with him and took in the same sights, not at all impressed by their magnificence. Ciel was inexplicably disappointed at Sebastian’s reaction, but he quickly came to echo his butler’s morose tone about such things.

Facing purity, goodness, and perfection, the demon boy gradually lost his ability to see greatness in virtue. One would have thought Ciel already knew the arbitrariness of good and evil, but you can only learn so much in the first thirteen years of life. Already partially disillusioned from his childhood, he quickly became familiar with the battle against neutrality that every human fails to achieve. The most heartfelt acts and the most heinous of crimes always balance out in the end. Pure evil is no more realistic as pure altruism; which is to say that neither exists and everything becomes a boring shade of grey in the end. Everyone, everything had the ability to be tainted, and that was how everything Ciel has witnessed on Earth eventually ends up.

Just as he thought he would get more enjoyment from life, Ciel thought he would be more troubled with needless death. After just a few meals, however, souls became simple sustenance, easily caught in the face of his newfound speed and strength. He didn't feed often or on anyone particularly tasty, but he had little issue with those he did consume. His fast-rising apathy should have alarmed him, but he felt little more than tiredness and muted frustration at everyone’s grey souls. Did they deserve their fate? Perhaps not. But they were never as innocent as they claimed to be, and that was enough justification for the monster within him.

Sebastian would probably disagree with Ciel's description of his meals as 'not particularly tasty.' In truth, the souls Ciel ate were reminiscent of plain pasta. Not revolting, but not anything that deserved to grace the tongue of a refined palate. They were certainly not as good as he had heard other demons describe, but that's what he gets for never having formed a contract. Contracts were where the tantalizing souls were cultivated, or so Sebastian says. Personally, Ciel thinks he simply does not have a taste for what used to be his own kind. Either way, souls were a necessity and contracts were not. He would put off forming a contract for as long as he was able, tasteless food be damned.

With the joy of life stained by reality and souls becoming easier to stomach with each passing meal, the world faded. Revenge had come and gone, just as his mortal coil ceased to exist. Life became a bore and death became a joke. All he had left was ever present hunger and Sebastian.

And how present Sebastian was. As he often contemplated, he never gave Ciel reason to question his alliance. He was there when Ciel called, and sometimes when he did not. He did his duty with diligence and perfection. He was always true to his word. He was just snarky enough to get away with it, and he apologized gracefully (if insincerely) when he went too far.

For all intents and purposes, he was the perfect butler. And yet, the question still remains.

“Claude went against his contract by killing Alois Trancy,” Ciel stated one afternoon in the midst of staring at some police report Sebastian had swiped for him to stave off his boredom.

Sebastian either did not know he was being addressed or was being purposefully obtuse because he paid Ciel no mind as he dusted off yet another book from the array sitting neatly on a shelf at the end of the room.

Ciel took the silence as an invitation to press further, “Which means that it is not outside of the realm of possibility to negate a contract if the demon so chooses.”

Ciel waited for a reaction from his butler, to deny, to rebel, to simply leave and never return (okay, probably nothing so dramatic), but again there was no response. He couldn’t make himself more clear, could he?

“Sebastian?”

At the prompting, Sebastian placed to book down and turned to his master, who was sitting at his large oak desk with a less than patient expression now contorting his features. 

“Thinking about conducting foul play on the first contract, my lord?”

Ciel’s fists clenched beneath the desk and he took a deep breath. Sebastian knew better than to speak of his own dealings with human souls. He may feed from them with little protest, but Sebastian is aware of Ciel’s resolution against joining contracts and would not bring up such a thing without ill intent.

“Be careful, Sebastian. I would certainly bite my tongue were I in your shoes.”

“I do apologize, my lord,” Sebastian said in what Ciel suspected was thinly veiled amusement. Damn him. “In that case, I am afraid you are going to have to be more specific.”

Ciel felt like he was pulling teeth and walking on eggshells all at once. It was much too early in the day for these games.

“Never mind,” he growled, picking up a paper and shaking it out with more force than necessary. “Go make yourself useful elsewhere.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Sebastian murmured as he bowed out and shut the door behind him.

Ciel did not refrain from asking Sebastian about their contract out of fear of losing someone to wait on his every whim. He has begun feeling increasingly self-sufficient as a demon, especially with his maturity and ability to live through treacherous injury (not that Sebastian would allow such misfortune to befall his master). In any case, it was not a butler he would miss should Sebastian leave his side.

In the last few years of his life, Ciel came to be unnaturally comforted by his contract. Although his butler would one day devour his soul, Ciel trusted Sebastian and his dedication via the document. Sebastian could not betray him. Sebastian could not lie. Sebastian was receiving something he could not refuse, and so he was loyal until Ciel’s duty was done.

Now though, Sebastian was only considered safe because of a set precedent. He had not harmed, or double crossed Ciel before. This was the only proof that Sebastian was on his side. Though one might think this was enough to be sure of one's loyalty, Ciel remained skeptical because knew he had nothing to offer. His soul was no longer for the taking. Ciel’s insurance was now nothing more than a semantic within a contract which had no business existing between two demons.

Ciel knew he still held some small power in this matter. He could order Sebastian away, as he had done once before. It was something he has yet to try in his new form, but it would likely do nothing to ease Ciel’s concerns. Besides, he would never do it. It would be depriving the young demon of the one thing he came to yearn as he was born anew, companionship. 

Companionship was something Ciel had never been overly fond of. When he was a young child he occasionally enjoyed a playmate, but after the infamous black splotch on his life’s canvas he had grown cold to company. There was nothing stopping those whom he was familiar from stabbing him in the back or otherwise hurting himself, and he expected nothing less from them all.

Now, Sebastian was the only thing that could exist with Ciel for the rest of time. Humans did not have enough life to begin to prove their loyalty to Ciel. No other immortal beings could be ever trusted, nor did they likely want anything to do with a turned demon such as himself. Sebastian was all that Ciel needed, all that he desired out of his prolonged, unnatural life.

Sebastian was the only one, and Ciel fears even his loyalty could be questioned.

In the back of his mind, Ciel knows that Sebastian likely has already considered anything he could possibly inquire about the contract, especially when it concerns his freedom. Even so, he wonders if poking the beast after all this time would lead to disastrous consequences Ciel was simply not equipped to endure

In the end, his fears of losing Sebastian were no match for his fears about the contract. Ciel felt had no choice but to get an answer out of Sebastian lest he lose his mind. Surely there is nothing worse than not sating his cancerous curiosity, even if it meant losing the consistency he had secured for himself so long ago. 

“Sebastian.” It was night once more, and whether it be the same day as when he last spoke to Sebastian or the next month Ciel could not be sure. Days are so arbitrary and useless in the grand scheme of things. 

“My lord,” Sebastian replies, sliding into the room with a calm air that Ciel wishes he could display. Even after all this time, Ciel is still quick to temper and lash out at the slightest of inconveniences. As Sebastian reaches Ciel and lifts a hand to undo Ciel’s vest as per their routine. Ciel puts up a hand and stops him.

“Sebastian,” Ciel day’s again, redundantly. 

“Yes, my lord?” Sebastian asks, resting his hand back by his side and raising an amused eyebrow. He either does not grasp the severity of the situation, or sees Ciel’s worrying as insignificant. Probably both.

Ciel takes a deep breath and looks Sebastian in the eye. 

“I am going to ask you a question, and I would like you to answer.”

“Of course, my lord,” Sebastian replies without hesitation.

“But, ah,” Ciel’s hesitation caused him to outwardly wince and he pressed on. “This is not an order. I would like you to answer, but I do not want you to be forced to do so.” Remembering a past conversation, he quickly added, “I certainly do not wish for you to lie if you have no other answer for me.”

Sebastian looked untroubled by his words, but furrowed his brow at his eyes trailed down to his master’s trembling hands clasped at his front. 

“I understand. But, my lord, might you sit down? You look as if a stiff wind could get the better of you.”

“I’m fine,” Ciel snapped, moving to hook his hands behind his back and out of Sebastian's nosy line of sight.

Sebastian nodded in acquiescence and looked into Ciel’s face. He wished Sebastian was not so fond of eye contact. Sebastian knew Ciel refused to back down from such a challenge, which had captured them in a deadlock many times before. After they had stared at each other for a ridiculous amount of time, Sebastian prompted. 

“The question, my lord?”

“Yes. Well,” Ciel stammered, looking away from Sebastian in defeat. He cursed himself for his weakness. One would think he would have grown a spine in the last century. “Tonight may not be the best night to ask. Perhaps tomorrow. Or never, it really is not as serious as I made it out to sound.”

“Pardon me, but might I contradict you, my lord?” Sebastian had still not removed his gaze, the wretched demon. He did take a step back, however, allowing Ciel a bit more room to breathe. It seems to me that whatever you wish to inquire about has been on the tip of your tongue for quite some time, and on your mind for much longer. Might it be best to get it out in the open so that you could move on?”

Ciel's shoulders hiked up at being exposed. His first reaction was to scold Sebastian and dismiss him, but as always his words spoke the bitter truth and there was not option for retreat any longer.

“You are a demon with a life sentence of a contract,” Ciel began, straigtening his jacket and raising his chin in an effort to appear more in control. “It is a deplorable fate. You don’t have to deny it, I am a demon myself and I still could not begin to imagine such a long sentence of servitude. I would understand if you were resentful of me, though every day you complete your tasks with grace and dignity that seems quite contrary to your position as a subordinate.”

Ciel glanced over at Sebastian, hoping for some sort of reaction. Maybe he would see where Ciel was going and offer up the information freely.

“Do you disapprove of my attitude, my lord?”

Sebastian was playing inocent on purpose. Ciel knew his butler was not so dense.

“Of course not, you dunce. I was simply wondering-” Ciel cleared his throat. There was nothing simple about this. “I wanted to ask you about our contract.”

Sebastian nodded his head once, almost in a gesture of pride for Ciel having finally spoken his mind. It was strangely comforting, if a bit patrenizing.

“I will explain anything you do not understand, although I can not fathom I would have anything to offer you on the subject, considering your thorough evaluation of it’s contents,” Sebastion was using sarcasm at the end of his phrase, a small smirk quirking his lips.

“Avoiding personal jabs would do wonders for my temper, Sebastian,” Ciel growled, taking a stiff seat on the bed to avoid dismissing his butler for the second time that night. It is true that he was hasty in his agreement to their contract initially, what with the rather dire circumstances surrounding its creation, but he had never wavered in his dedication to it. He promised Sebastian his soul, and he did not go back on that promise for as long as he had something to offer. That was more than most could say.

“I will keep that in mind, my lord.”

Taking a breath, Ciel continued. “As I was saying, I wish to inquire about the contract. You will recall a certain prematurely murderous demon whom I mentioned a bit ago.”

Sebastian's lips lost their smirk and pressed themselves into a thin line, his first sign of disapproval since the conversation had began. “Clause Faustus is a disgrace in all senses of the word.”

“Yes, I am aware you were not fond of him. In any case, he captured Alois Trancy’s soul before his contract was fulfilled. Since he did not protect his master from death, he was going against the contract, yes?”

“My lord, this may not be the answer you wish to hear, but I truly do not know if he was in violation of the Trancy contract. Perhaps his master did not deem it necessary to order Clause to keep him safe or forbid him from harming the boy, and was therefore not acting against the contract. That is extremely unlikely given the nature of most demon/human contracts, but it is possible. It is more plausible that Clause had directly disobeyed orders either in that moment or closely before, breaking the contract once his intent against Alois was less than professional. By the time Alois came to know this, however, the demon had already captured his soul with plans to sully yours in the process.”

Sebastian looked truly upset by all this--meaning he had a small frown that flashed across his face before settling into his mask once more--and Ciel supposed he could understand to a certain extent. Ciel was supposed to be a perfect meal and the Trancy cohort ruined it for him. Ciel’s human soul was long gone, however, and Ciel did not see the reaction, small as it was, fitting of something centuries behind them.

Contemplating what Sebastian said, Ciel realised he had not considered that Alois may have been stupid enough to trust his butler without ordering his protection, but he would not but it past the sniveling brat. No matter. Such an answer did not identify what he was really getting at here. A more direct approach was necessary.

“So it is possible for a demon to break a contract,” Ciel stated, not asking a question but obviously expecting it to be answered as such.

“Surely you knew that already, my lord. You used to inquire about my allegiance to the contract nearly constantly, or don’t you remember?”

“I am aware. That brings me to my final point.” Ciel did his best to relax into his position on the bed. He felt too stiff even in this informal position. 

“You have been by my side for hundreds of years and executed my needs better than I could ever hope to on my own. You are my butler.”

“I am, my lord. To the very end.” At this declaration, he put his gloved hand to his chest and dipped his head.

Ciel pressed on.

“Sebastian, I have no soul to give you. You are very well aware of this. You are bound to me until one of our demise, which no doubt will be a very long time. But, if contracts are so easily cast off, what keeps you here? I have mulled it over for as long as I can stand and I have come to no conclusion. Why do you serve me, when your reward is none?”

Sebastian, though this speech, had begun to smile fondly at his lord. Ciel could not fathom why, when he had laid his most intrusive and cruel question bare.

“My lord,” Sebastian began. “The first thing you must know is that a contract is only _mostly_ a demon’s free will. Once he has captured his victim, there is no escape for them and little stops a demon from ending a contract if he wishes. Despite this truth, the best souls are worth so very much, and demons often find themselves enduring much for their masters.

“Demons are not generally honest creatures, and so there are some forces at play that help to keep our word. Contracts are fragile things and going against them forbids the demon from eating his prize. If Clause did break his contract, it was out of discontent for the soul which he was promised. He would not be able to consume Alois’s soul, nor was it likely that he wished to. The price became too high, or the goods deteriorated. They are known to do so on occasion.”

With the pointed look Sebastian directed at him, Ciel was beginning to think this whole speech was just a roundabout way of insulting his choice in cuisine for the past hundred or so years. He waved a hand for Sebastian to get to the point.

“There is another bind within contracts past the promise of a soul, although it is a completely arbitrary factor within the contract. You see, demons can devote themselves to their masters in a number of ways, all of them dependent on how hard they are willing to work for their meal. This has much to do with the disposition of the person they serve. If a demon finds their master’s actions distasteful or soul tainting, they are less likely to do their master’s full and total bidding.”

At this, Sebastian stopped and looked expectantly at Ciel, who was rewarded with a blank look.

“Sebastian, while this is all very interesting, I must ask you to be more direct. I don’t believe you have answered the question yet,” Ciel said, proving he had made no such leaps.

“Of course,” Sebastian replied. “I believe your answer lies in a criticism I have sustained numerous times and which I have yet to counter. It concerns the level at which I perform my duties without considering the prize. In short, I have grown unnaturally attached to you, my lord. Had I only cared for your soul I could have cast off your orders with ease when the exchange became less than beneficial, cleanly breaking our partnership. Alas, my devotion to you runs deeper, and with every gesture I strengthen the contract to a truly unnatural level. After so long, I am sure there is nothing I could do to break it. I have given in to its will long ago, and so I will ever remain by your side.”

Before he began his line of questioning, Ciel had figured Sebastian’s service had something to do with footnote or fineprint within his contract. He was expecting a malicious answer for his captor who implored him to answer a question that for all intents and purposes was an unnecessary cruelty to his eternal butler. This was so far off the mark that Ciel questioned its validity.

Ciel stood up from his place on the bed and walked to the window, putting some more space between himself and his demon. After a stretch of silence, Ciel spoke, still gazing out into the clear night.

“You can not expect me to believe you remain out of sentiment, Sebastian. I have lived far too long to believe such rubbish.”

Sebastian, out of sight from Ciel, took a silent breath in before speaking once more.

“Most certainly, my lord, but you misunderstand. It was my sentiment, as you call it, directly following your turning that bound me to your side. Had I been able to refuse you and had I chosen to leave you in your newly demonic form after ascertaining for certain your true nature, the contract would have been shattered right then and there. In staying with you, I ensured my fate a long time ago, and it is a choice I refuse to regret.”

“How can I be sure of your loyalty if all that binds us is a long since passed act of dedication?” Ciel asked, turning to face his butler with ferocity.

“I can not force you to trust me, my lord. Although if you do not, I am no more useful to you than a human worker without his wage.”

Ciel walked up to Sebastian and stared into his face, searching for something he has never found in his century of searching, and of which continues to escape. 

“You are unable to break the contract? Even if it becomes your greatest desire?”

“My lord, such a desire would never come to pass. You have my word, until death do us part.”

At that, Ciel’s face softened into something between defeat and acceptance. For whatever reason, his suspicion had broken. Perhaps he had just needed Sebastian to say it out loud. Or maybe Ciel was getting old and forgiving, as despicable as that sounded. Whatever the reason, Ciel felt he could once again trust his butler once more. It was a weight off his shoulders, one he did not know he was carrying for as long as he was. He felt lighter than he had in over eight decades. Ciel wondered, not for the first time, if Sebastian was a telekinetic or some other sort of sorcerer on top of his hellish disposition. It was unnatural for him to give in so quickly.

“Sebastian, you wretch,” he rolled his eyes. “Marriage is a bit presumptuous, is it not?”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, my lord, but we are much more tightly bound than any two humans could hope to achieve through their ceremony and formality,” Sebastian countered, grinning back at his master with his dangerous fangs on display.

“I would have it no other way,” Ciel responded, gesturing for Sebastian to begin the buttons on his vest. It seems his butler would serve him yet another day.

“Nor would I, my lord. Nor would I.” 

Stooping down, Sebastian’s nimble fingers made light work of his master’s outerwear, just as they had yesterday and will continue to do until the very end of time.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this famdom. Idk if this is any good so feel free to give me advise/criticisms!
> 
> I know the ending is rushed, I'm not sure how else to write it lol
> 
> Some tags and word building were updated 1/17/20


End file.
